Companies looking to strengthen their data backup and recovery methods will have some new options as products arrive with enhanced disk and tape capabilities and improved functionality.

EMC Corp. this week ships the latest version of EMC Legato NetWorker, which adds new disk backup capabilities and expands application integration, said George Symons, chief technology officer of information management software at EMC. "With the increased pressure on companies for recordkeeping and compliance, companies are making changes in their storage infrastructure, and our products are reflecting that," he said.

Compliance is becoming a key issue. "The ability to efficiently and expeditiously comply with regulatory requirements is fast becoming a major driver for IT within small and medium-size businesses," said Mika Krammer, a Gartner Inc. analyst. 

EMC is also offering EMC Dantz Retrospect 7 for Windows, courtesy of its recent acquisition of Dantz Development Corp. The software targets small businesses and includes expanded disk backup.

Another data backup product, Backup Exec from Veritas Software Corp., has recently been updated. Backup Exec 10 for Windows Servers offers disk-to-disk-to-tape backup.